Do Wastewater Utilities Need to Invest in Innovative Technologies to Meet New Stringent Discharge Regulations?

Although there has been considerable development over last century in wastewater treatment technologies, an underlying interest in finding better methods of treating wastewater has persisted. Over this period, the wastewater treatment has expanded from a conventional activated sludge (BOD and TSS removal) to biological nutrient removal. While new technologies and their expected performance continue to evolve, the overall goals have remained remarkably similar over the years - high efficiency, robust and simple, ease of operation and maintenance, compact, and low cost of ownership. This paper provides an overview of these newer technologies. The detailed results of several process selection studies that evaluated these innovative technologies at water resource recovery facility (WRRF) are presented. Finally, conclusions are drawn that attempt to answer the question - is the time now for utilities to invest in new treatment technologies without risk of failure?